Page 24 of Exhale (Out for Justice #8)

O wen drove them through the night and Jordan sat in the passenger seat with Black and Micah in the back.

The comms were quiet, so Jordan wasn’t holding onto much hope that any of the other team members had found Weston.

And as the hours passed, his hope began to fade. He could only imagine how Owen must be feeling.

The man had a death grip on the wheel as they barreled down the highway just over the maximum speed.

“What now?” he asked, turning in his seat to face Owen.

“We’re regrouping at the temporary base,” Owen said and whipped into the parking lot where a chopper had dropped them off a few hours ago.

The helicopter, owned by Dave, had the blades spinning.

“You coming?” Jordan asked Micah and Black.

“I want to see this to the end,” Micah said.

“I’m coming,” Black said after a dark scowl at Micah.

Jordan couldn’t see Black letting Micah come alone, so he was glad both of his friends would stick around to help.

The conference room was quiet, even though it was filled with Pegasus operatives and several police. SWAT, DEA, and detectives had shown up and taken seats in the back.

Ace stood up front with Dave, and off to the side stood Stone, his light gray eyes traveling over the room.

Jordan could see that Stone was in full bodyguard mode. Which made sense—Dave was a powerful man. He had his finger on the pulse of specialty teams that ultimately reported to the President of the United States. If anything were to happen to Dave, then all hell would break loose.

Several Secret Service agents were also strategically standing around the room.

Jordan could tell the difference between them and the others. They wore suits, while the various law enforcement groups wore uniforms.

Dave turned to the group and gave a heavy sigh.

“I’m sorry to say that Danner got away. He’s wounded, but he’s on the run,” Dave said.

“Was my son with him?” Owen asked.

“No.”

A pin could have been heard dropping, and Dave continued.

“We suspect that he already sold Weston and is using the money to leave the country.”

A murmur ran through the room.

“I have alerted all avenues of escape. I’ve mobilized a massive manhunt with the approval of POTUS,” Dave continued.

Every person in the room seemed to collectively hold their breath. There had only been a handful of times through the years that Dave had mobilized such a force. Jordan had heard the stories.

And he hoped to god that it would be enough to find Weston.

Over the next few days…

Pegasus moved like the wind. Every entity, including the FBI and CIA, were launched. Law enforcement throughout the country was mobilized.

Doors were kicked in as well as heads, and the scum of the earth scrambled to get out of their way.

Not only was Pegasus out in force, but they’d called in Phoenix, and Rossi and Stefano showed up with the unit.

They called in old friends, and Logan’s former Special Forces unit came.

Infinity showed up along with Logan’s twin brother’s bodyguards. Even though Liam didn’t run Cobalt Security any longer, he had the full support of Jaxon and the team.

Dave called in Genesis and Aries and a few other units that Jordan had never heard the names of before.

Azrael and his merry band of young assassins arrived on the scene and melted into the night.

Each and every team converged far and wide, covering all of the US. And those far states they couldn’t reach, like Alaska? Well, they had friends of friends of friends that could and did.

It took seventy-two hours for the call to come in from Diesel Gannon up in Oregon from a little town called Fern.

“I’ve got him,” Diesel said, and Owen broke down.

Jordan took the phone from his shaking hands and spoke for a while with both Diesel and Triton, who was Diesel’s husband.

“Dave is sending us in a helicopter,” Jordan said, giving Triton his phone number.

“I’ll send you our address,” Triton said.

Just as Jordan hung up, Owen pulled him into his arms and held him tightly.

Jordan couldn’t speak, the level of help they’d received had been mind-boggling to say the least.

The word went out, and most of the units went back to business as usual, but Owen would never forget their kindness, and his door would always be open to every one of them.

The next morning, he and Jordan were standing outside their hotel room in Utah when Dave and Stone arrived with a barrage of Secret Service.

Dave got out and walked over to place a hand on his shoulder, gripping it firmly.

Stone came up to stand behind Dave, like a silent sentinel, a guard, a protector against all that was evil throughout this whole ordeal.

Dave was an amazing man, and Owen turned and hugged the former SecDef tightly.

“Thank you.” Owen’s voice was hoarse and tight.

“You’re welcome,” Dave said with one last pat on the back, and then they released each other.

Jordan was pulled by Dave into a brief hug.

“I can hear the chopper,” Stone said. “You two better get ready.”

With a nod, he took Jordan’s hand, and they ran for the chopper that had landed in the far end of the nearly empty parking lot.

Owen jumped in and took one last look at the small group who stood watching them.

Jordan waved at Micah and Black.

Owen still had questions for Micah about the missing perp when they got back, but all that could wait for now.